My Lai massacre

The My Lai massacre occurred on 16 March 1968 during the Vietnam War. 105 US soldiers from a rifle company belonging to the US 23rd Infantry Division under Captain Ernest Medina and Lieutenant William Calley were ordered to helicopter into the village of My Lai, having previously lost 28 men to mines, booby traps, and snipers (a popular squad leader had been killed two days earlier). The men were told that the Viet Cong were waiting for them at My Lai, and they were thirsty for revenge. Although they found no guerrillas in the village, they murdered 407 defenseless old men, women, children, and infants, taking out their fury on innocent Vietnamese villagers; many of the women and girls were raped before they were shot. Helicopter pilot Hugh Thompson Jr. then landed between the Americans and their intended targets and ordered his men to fire if the Americans tried to kill more civilians. A mile away, another company murdered 97 more villagers at My Khe, raising the death toll to 504. The massacre prompted global outrage, including among the American public, but the military was not surprised, as several slaughters had occurred before. The massacre was covered up until Ronald Ridenhour wrote letters to the Presideny, the Secretary of Defense, and two dozen other senior officials to inform them of the war crime. Ultimately, only Lieutenant Calley was convicted, but he only served three and a half years under house arrest.